UPDATES / Luis Girão

Perception and experience of the self in autoscopic phenomena and self-portraiture
BLANKE O.
Autoscopic phenomena are reduplicative experiences during which the subject has the impression of seeing a double in extracorporeal space either from an embodied or disembodied visuo-spatial perspective. Autoscopic phenomena include out-of-body experience (OBE), autoscopic hallucination (AH) and heautoscopy (HAS). In an out-of-body experience, subjects feel that their "self", or centre of awareness, is located outside the physical body and somewhat elevated. It is from this elevated extracorporeal location that subjects experience seeing their body and the world. An autoscopic hallucination is defined as the experience of seeing a double of oneself in extracorporeal space without leaving one's body (no disembodiment)

The Reflexive Nature of Consciousness, Greg Janzen


Reflexive self-consciousness is a concept, related to that of enlightenment, formulated by Eugene Halliday during the 1940s/1950s in England.
Eugene Halliday, made a lifelong study of art, religion, philosophy, psychology and science. From his understanding he formulated a coherent set of ideas. In his seminal work “Reflexive Self-Consciousness”, he sets out the nature of consciousness and its relation to the world of phenomena, being, and mankind. From this he explains how consciousness itself can become 'reflexive'. By this he means that consciousness becomes completely self-transparent and continuously aware of its own presence and nature.

Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature, along with strong interaction, weak interaction and gravitation. It is the force that causes the interaction between electrically charged particles; the areas in which this happens are called electromagnetic fields.

Bioelectromagnetism (sometimes equated with bioelectricity) refers to the electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms. Examples include the cell membrane potential and the electric currents that flow in nerves and muscles, as a result of action potentials. It is not to be confused with bioelectromagnetics, which deals with the effect on life from external electromagnetism.

The book “Bioelectromagnetism: Principles and Applications of Bioelectric and Biomagnetic Fields” from Oxford University Press is now available online for free. An extended review will not be given here since readers have access to the entire book. The bioelectromagnetism of cells and synapses, as well as of various organs, such as the heart and the brain, are covered in great detail. Other chapters include topics specifically relevant to our readers, including coverage of the electroencephalography (EEG), electrodermal response (EDR; also referred to as galvanic skin response [GSR]), magnetoencephalogram (MEG), and electrocardiogram (ECG; also known as EKG).